Business and Finance

Epic Energy Resources Inc. CEO John Ippolito resigned unexpectedly on Friday.

In addition, Tamar El-Rayess resigned from Epic’s board of directors.

Epic Chairman Alan Carnrite will serve as interim CEO, according to a statement by the company issued after market close on Friday.

In the statement, Carnrite offered no explanation for the sudden departures, saying only: "On behalf of the board and the company we want to thank Mr saving account payday loan. Ippolito and Mr. El-Rayess for their service and contribution to the company and wish them the very best."

Epic (OTC BB: EPCC) is an integrated energy services company based in The Woodlands.

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Federal testimony on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill Friday revealed that an alarm system on the Deepwater Horizon rig had been “inhibited” for about a year before the rig exploded and sank in April.

Sensors that detect combustible or toxic gases were still active, relaying the message to the computer system, but the trigger for an audible or visual alarm was disabled.

According to numerous media reports, the platform’s chief electronics technician Mike Williams told the six-member federal inquiry panel that he had asked about the alarm being partially disabled about a year before the accident and was told by supervisors that it was done to prevent false alarms waking crews up at all hours of the night no faxing payday loan.

Williams told the committee that no audio or visual alarms were activated the night of the April 20 fire.

The joint hearing, held by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, was held near New Orleans Friday.

The Houston Business Journal is providing continuous coverage of the Gulf oil spill.

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Learn what faxless payday loans are and how online payday loans can be used as a quick fix to pay off your bills.

Seeking to capitalize on the migration to Internet-based computing services, Town and Country-based Savvis Inc. released on Monday a new product that allows customers to better manage their information technology systems online.

The practice of moving away from hardware and software to programs and data storage on shared networks, known as cloud computing, is an accelerating trend.

A study commissioned by Savvis this year estimated that the number of companies that rely mostly on in-house IT infrastructure will drop to 49 percent in 2020 from 82 percent today.

However, many applications cannot easily communicate with one another in "the cloud," and customizing them so they can is often an expensive endeavor.
Savvis’ newest cloud computing product, the Symphony Virtual Private Data Center, lets customers ratchet up or down resources they need rather than buying a one-size-fits-all service.

It also lets customers easily combine applications within a cloud to organize their own data centers, Bryan Doerr, Savvis’ chief technology officer, said during a Monday conference call no teletrack payday loan.

For instance, a company could combine security, marketing and data-sharing applications within its own data cloud hosted by Savvis, Doerr said.

That type of application integration has not been readily accessible in cloud computing, said Steve Powell, president of Delta Systems, an IT, Internet and network hosting company in Columbia, Mo. Getting applications to communicate with each other on a cloud platform is generally expensive and hard to coordinate.

Savvis’ new offering is "definitely upping the ante," he said.

"If I were running an IT department in a medium to large company, I’d definitely give it a look," Powell said.

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The trucking industry took a step back in May, with tonnage slipping for the first time since February but still up from a year ago. The American Trucking Associations, a trade group, on Friday said its advance index of for-hire truck tonnage fell 0.6 percent in May, down from a revised 1 percent increase in April. The index is adjusted for seasonal variations. With the May decline, the index moved to 109.6. The base year of 2000 equals 100. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that despite the dip, he saw industry trends continuing to improve. “There is no way that freight can increase every month, and we should expect periodic decreases,” he said in a release. “This doesn’t take away from the fact that freight volumes are quite good, especially considering the reduction in truck supply over the last couple of years.” Compared with May 2009, tonnage was up 7.2 percent, the sixth straight year-to-year improvement. For the first five months of the year, tonnage was 6.2 percent better than during the same period last year. Not seasonally adjusted, the ATA index fell 2.8 percent to 108.3 between April and May. Earlier this month, Overland Park-based trucking giant YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: YRCW) said freight volumes continued to rise in June and it probably would report positive unadjusted earnings for the second quarter. http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/06/14/daily1.html Trucking has been a leading indicator of the U.S. economy’s health, hauling 68 percent of tonnage carried by domestic modes of freight transportation.

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The Fox Co. has been awarded a $78,925 contract to supply sewing equipment to the state of North Carolina.

The Charlotte-based company manufactures cloth spreaders, cutting and measuring machines.

It won the contract as part of the new N.C. Preference program, which gives N.C. companies whose bids are within 5 percent or $10,000 of the lowest out-of-state bidder the opportunity to match the out-of-state price and be awarded the contract.

“It’s critical that we do everything we can to support our home-grown businesses,” says N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue. “The preference for in-state businesses will save jobs and help North Carolina businesses grow and create new jobs.”

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For 18-year-old Stephanie Gielarowski, it was a school-sponsored trip to China that sparked her interest in Asia.

“I’ve always liked to travel,” she said, but it was that trip last summer where she saw first-hand the economic importance of the region.

“It’s important to be involved and educated in Asia,” she said, including understanding the region’s history and culture. It’s this newfound awareness that spurred her to pursue international business in college. So far, she says, her plan is to study at the University of South Carolina.

Gielarowski is one of hundreds of students who, over the years, have traveled abroad as part of one of the many programs offered by Upper St. Clair High School, which ranked No. 1 out of 123 high schools in western Pennsylvania, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment Exam results conducted by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

The school’s Asian travel opportunities, which include a summer trip to China and an exchange to Thailand, are relatively new compared with some of the European programs, such as a German exchange that has been offered for 20 years.

Together, the school’s seven different language classes, its international and Asian studies, and its opportunities to travel prepare students for the world beyond western Pennsylvania.

“It really opens their eyes to their magnitude and place in the world,” in addition to preparing them for adulthood, said Principal Michael Ghilani.

Mary Eddins, an 18-year-old senior, participated in the Thai exchange her sophomore year and has taken the Asian Studies class offered by the school. Of her trip to Thailand, she says, “that opened my eyes up globally.”

Her previous foreign travel consisted of vacations to Mexico or the Caribbean, but that only offered the resort experience, whereas staying with a host family, “you’re immersed with the culture more, you learn the culture first-hand.”

That sentiment was echoed by Junior Rachel Amoroso, 16, who went on the exchange earlier this year.

“It was really a life changing experience,” she said. “I had never been out of the country before.”

But that cross culture taste has her hungry for more, and she is planning on studying abroad in college. In fact, she says, most of her questions at college fairs revolve around whether a school offers study abroad instant payday loan no telecheck.

In addition to sending students overseas, Upper St. Clair High School also has foreign students come to Pittsburgh. In the spring, the school hosts Thai students and teachers. This April, 38 Thai students and three teachers arrived in Upper St. Clair.

The Thai exchange not only exposes the students to a new culture, but it also offers the entire community a way to connect. Organizing the program has become a labor of love for Thai native and Pittsburgh transplant Luck Kosoladolkitt. She first put the program together when her son was a junior and she wanted him to have a study abroad experience. From there, it has grown.

“The high school level is the most important time for students to make a decision before they go to university,” she said of the experiences of both the Thai and Upper St. Clair students. “They are in their teens, and they don’t know exactly what they want to do with their own life; this gives them the opportunity” to see other possibilities.

As part of the exchange, all of the students, Thai and American, host a Thai Night Gala in Upper St. Clair where the Thai culture is celebrated. The event also is a fundraiser to help pay for the program.

Many of the students who have gone on the Thai exchange or the summer trip to China also take the Asian Studies class that is offered. The semester-long elective looks at modern Asia as well as Asian history, and the curriculum was developed with the help of the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center.

“We are a global society,” said Lauren Davidovich, who is teaching the current semester’s Asian Studies course. “Asia may not have been addressed as it should have been, and we would be remiss not to study it.”

In addition to personal growth offered by foreign travel, the school’s programs have students looking at careers in international business after they saw the economic importance of Asia.

Davidovich also noted that combining the class plus the real travel experience offers the students a unique perspective.

“Education breeds understanding,” she said.

For more, visit the Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools homepage.

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Those baggage fees really add up: The airline industry raked in nearly $8 billion from fees last year, according to a government report.

The revenue from so-called ancillary fees totaled $7.8 billion in 2009, according to U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That’s a 40% increase from 2008, when the revenue from ancillary fees totaled $5.5 billion, the bureau said.

The tally does not include air fares. It’s made up of the plethora of extra fees that airlines have tacked on over the last few years, including fees to transport checked bags, pets, and musical instruments.

The fees are also applied to other services, such as curbside check-in or ordering tickets over the phone. The fees vary from airline to airline.

In 2009, the airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees, $2.4 billion from reservation change fees and $2.7 billion from an assortment of other ancillary fees, such as frequent flyer award program mileage sales.

Delta Air Lines (DAL, Fortune 500) was the leading collector of ancillary fee revenue, bringing in more than $1.6 billion in 2009.

But the carrier that relies the most on extra charges is Spirit Airlines. In the fourth quarter of 2009, 21% of the airline’s operating revenue came from ancillary fees, a larger percentage than any of its rivals.

In April, Spirit Airlines began charging extra fees for carry-on bags. Because that that measure was imposed in 2010, it’s not included in the 2009 numbers. 

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Mattress and pillow maker Tempur-Pedic International Inc. has purchased its Canadian distributor, Tempur Canada Inc.

Financial terms of the purchase, which closed April 1 but was not announced until Monday morning, were not disclosed.

Tempur Canada will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Lexington, Ky.-based Tempur-Pedic (NYSE: TPX), according to a news release.

Tempur-Pedic officials said they will update the company’s financial guidance when they announce first-quarter financial results on April 20.

In the release, Tempur-Pedic CEO Mark Sarvary said the Canadian market is large and Tempur-Pedic’s share is “relatively low.” Company officials hope they can gain market share by increasing the company’s investments in sales and advertising in the market.

The company has taken similar actions in Austria, Australia, China and New Zealand over the past four years, according to the release.

Tempur-Pedic makes mattresses and pillows using a proprietary pressure-relieving foam material. It sells its products in more than 80 countries under the Tempur and Tempur-Pedic brand names.

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A former controller for Cepia LLC, maker of the popular Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamster toys, was indicted for mail fraud for allegedly embezzling more than $400,000 from the Clayton-based company.

Joseph Van Gronigen, 41, of Hillsboro, was indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts of mail fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday. He is expected to appear in federal court later this week.

According to the indictment, between September 2007 to January 2010, Van Gronigen allegedly embezzled more than $400,000 from Cepia for his own use and to pay his own expenses cash advance no faxing. He was employed by Cepia from 2005 to January this year and had been the company’s controller since 2008.

Cepia brought the situation to the attention of the FBI and attorney general’s office.

Russell Hornsby is founder, owner and chief executive of Cepia LLC. His Zhu Zhu Pets were the must-have toy of Christmas 2009 and were named Toy of the Year in February by the Toy Industry Association.

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Crammed into a small Detroit office filled with pipe fittings, hydraulic tubing, and a device that looks like a gas pump combined with a supercomputer, Dave Shaw sums up how his life has changed.

Tipping back in a cheap office chair, the former auto executive points beneath the folding table that is his desk. "We had a ton of people working for us," Shaw says, crossing his stocky arms over his chest. "Now you have to do it all yourself. See that trash can? If I want it emptied, I empty it myself."

Two of Shaw’s colleagues at Clean Emission Fluids grin knowingly. All three once worked for auto companies or their suppliers. Today, as Shaw says, they are wearing many more hats than they ever did working for the Big Three: They are engineering, assembling, and marketing a highly sophisticated biodiesel blending machine that they hope will propel their three-year-old startup to huge success.

The machine makes any biofuel easily available in whatever mixture of traditional diesel and alternative fuel a trucker or fleet might choose. The result is cleaner-burning engines. "We aren’t waiting for the auto industry to come save us," says Clean Emission CEO Oliver Baer, a ThyssenKrupp alumnus. "We’re going to save ourselves."

Clean Emission is one of 160 startups that are part of a nonprofit incubator in central Detroit called TechTown. Founded by Wayne State University in 2000, the research park set out to make technology and entrepreneurship an engine of economic growth in a city that depended too much on, well, engines. With the U.S. auto industry in a shambles, TechTown’s mission seems more critical than ever.

Detroit isn’t known today for its entrepreneurism — or its tech prowess. But TechTown’s neighborhood is surrounded by reminders of Detroit’s innovative, ambitious past: There are ornate buildings, many of them vacant, that formerly housed the headquarters of GM, its Cadillac division, and its suppliers. According to local lore, the third floor of TechTown was where GM engineers conceived and designed the iconic Chevy Corvette.

These days TechTown is bustling. Over the summer nearly 1,000 people registered to attend a series of classes aimed at educating would-be entrepreneurs Business Card Holders. Almost a quarter came directly out of GM, Ford (F, Fortune 500), and Chrysler, and almost half were between the ages of 35 and 55. TechTown hopes to create jobs by helping give birth to 400 new companies in the next three years, says Randal Charlton, executive director of the incubator.

Will they all succeed? Clearly not, but don’t dismiss Detroit just because it isn’t Silicon Valley. The area is rich in skilled electrical, mechanical, and software engineers, and Detroiters have deep expertise in some industries with growth potential, such as alternative energy (hello, electric cars), health-care technology (until 2008, Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) had one of its largest R&D centers in the region), and logistics and supply-chain management, thanks to its manufacturing roots.

Detroit’s would-be entrepreneurs also have something that many of their counterparts in California’s Mountain View and Sunnyvale lack: community spirit.

Don’t laugh. A lot of hotshot engineers and executives tend to be mercenary, readily relocating to the company — and region — that offers the best salary or the most stock options.

Not Greg Auner. "I was born and raised in Detroit," says Auner, a Wayne State professor and founding partner of Visca, a TechTown company that makes a handheld sensing device. Visca could be headquartered anywhere, but Auner is committed to staying in his hometown. "I am dedicated to this region and bringing about a rebirth here."

Civic pride also motivates Leah Robinson and Ashara Shepard, Ph.D. candidates and former schoolteachers who launched COOL School Technologies, a sort of educational Facebook. The women wanted to create a tool to help inspire and motivate students in Detroit, who don’t have the same auto industry job opportunities that their parents and grandparents had.

Then again, if Shepard and Robinson — and others in TechTown — are successful, Detroit’s next generation won’t miss those auto jobs; they’ll all be working for tech firms. 

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